Courses and Independent Studio

Registration Information

Summer instructor work in a grid format.Summer 2024 term dates: May 28 - August 9, 2024

  • Registration for Summer 2024 courses will open on April 17 at 2pm.
  • A preview of Summer Courses and complete registration details will be available below by April 10. Please check back for updated information or sign up for our email newsletter to receive updates & reminders about our Summer 2024 term. 
  • Registration for our courses is open to adults 18+ unless otherwise noted.
  • Pay for classes using Visa or Mastercard. We no longer accept AMEX.
  • IMPORTANT: when proceeding to the payment stage of registration, DO NOT use your web browser's back/forward buttons at any point in the process. Doing so could result in an error where your payment is not recorded in our registration system and you will not be enrolled in the course. We cannot honor any attempted registrations where this error has occurred. If you make a payment but do not see the enrollment confirmed in your registration account, your enrollment did not go through and you must notify us in order to receive a refund.
  • Sign up for our email newsletter to receive updates & reminders about our courses and workshops
  • PDF: how to set up your registration account
  • Video: how to use our new registration system
  • Harvard College Undergrads: check out these shorter-term workshops just for you!

User Types

  • Adult Community: 18+, General Public; Harvard alumni, fellows, faculty/staff, and post-docs who are not TAP-eligible; Harvard Extension School students; students from universities other than Harvard
  • Harvard Employees eligible for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP): TAP regular (employees worked less than 15 years) and TAP long service (employees who worked 15 or more years at Harvard).
  • Harvard College Undergraduate Students: Currently enrolled students at Harvard College. This does not include Harvard Extension School Undergraduate Students. You must register with your Harvard email – we can arrange for an alternative email to be used for class after registration is complete.
  • Harvard Graduate Students: Currently enrolled students in a Harvard University Graduate Program. This does not include Harvard Extension School Graduate Students.

Health and Safety Guidelines

To help protect other event participants and staff, we ask that you stay home if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or if you are required to isolate or quarantine in accordance with University and CDC guidelines. Although masking is now optional at Harvard, we highly recommend wearing a mask while in the Ceramics Program building. Review the most current Harvard University policies and practices to Keep Harvard Healthy

Helpful Links

Questions on course content, health and safety and facility questions? Please email Kathy King at kking@fas.harvard.edu.
Questions on registration procedures and pricing? Please email Ji Eun Kim at jikim@fas.harvard.edu

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Summer 2024 Course Listings PREVIEW

Basics and Challenges with Katie Bosley Sabin

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 30 - August 8 (10 classes | 11 weeks)Basics and Challenges
Day/Time: Thursdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor:
Katie Bosley Sabin

Course Description: Demonstrations, individual critiques, and lots of hands-on time will engage students in learning the basics of wheel throwing, hand building, and surface decoration. Creative approaches to altered and combined elements will provide challenges for more experienced students.

... Read more about Basics and Challenges with Katie Bosley Sabin

Basics and Challenges with Kyle Johns

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - July 30 (10 classes | 11 weeks)Basics and Challenges
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor:
Kyle Johns

Course Description: Demonstrations, individual critiques, and lots of hands-on time will engage students in learning the basics of wheel throwing, hand building, and surface decoration. Creative approaches to altered and combined elements will provide challenges for more experienced students.

... Read more about Basics and Challenges with Kyle Johns

Basics and Challenges with Steve Murphy

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: June 3 - August 5 (10 classes | 10 weeks)Basics and Challenges
Day/Time: Mondays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor:
Steve Murphy

Course Description: Basics and Challenges will cover many ways of making beautiful pots. From slab building plates and platters, pinching small bowls, hand building  small animals to throwing mugs and bowls on the wheel - we cover it all. Class will start at 6:30 with a 30-minute lesson starting at 7. Small sketchbooks are required to take notes and record your glazing work.... Read more about Basics and Challenges with Steve Murphy

By Hand

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: June 3 - August 5 (10 classes | 10 weeks) Waffle Sculptures by Forrest Gard
Day/Time: Mondays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor:
Forrest Sincoff Gard

Course Description: Join 2023-24 Artist-in-Residence Forrest Sincoff Gard in developing your hand-building skills and confidence in clay. The class will explore the fluidity and tactility of hand-building through techniques such as pinching, coiling, and slab-building and an introduction to mold-making. Projects will explore ceramic sculpture, utilitarian forms, games, clay as play, and pieces with movement. In-class demonstrations will address construction issues and functions and cover various surface decoration techniques. Note - Yes, those waffles ARE made out of clay!

... Read more about By Hand

Coiled, Pinched and Paddled

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 31 - August 9 (10 classes | 11 weeks)Jen Peace Water Bearer Coil Pot
Day/Time: Fridays, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Level:
Beginner - Advanced
Instructor: Jennifer Peace

Course Description: From tiny pinch pots to larger sculptural vessels, this class will focus on developing hand building skills. We will consider both practical and expressive intentions behind the work people do. Participants will be encouraged to notice the ways they handle and respond to clay and how this awareness can lead to creating work that is uniquely their own. Due to instructor travel, this class will feature guest instructors - Mary Kenny and Diane Lulek. July 26th will be a work-day with a make-up class on August 9th.

... Read more about Coiled, Pinched and Paddled

Combined Methods

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 29 - July 31 (10 classes | 11 weeks)Pot by Deighton Abrams
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 6:30 - 9:30pm
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Deighton Abrams

Course Description: This course, designed for Intermediate – Advanced students, encourages students to challenge their interest of the ceramic medium, combining wheel thrown and altered forms, with a focus on integrating new surface techniques with slips and glaze. This course is primarily a studio class structured around student proposals for a current body of work in combination with thematic assignments.

... Read more about Combined Methods

Digital Clay

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 29 - July 31 (10 classes | 11 weeks)Sculpture by Audrey An
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Advanced
Instructor: Audrey An

Course Description: Join 2022-24 Artist-in-Residence Audrey An in exploring computer-aided modes of clay working. Students must have prior mold experience to take this class. Thinking about hand-machine collaboration, the class will introduce various methods to design tools to aid your studio practice or generate digital models that will ultimately become ceramic objects. Throughout the course, students will gain basic proficiency in CAD (computer-aided design) software, Rhinoceros 3D, to create forms that can be folded in paper, 3D printed in plastic to make a plaster

... Read more about Digital Clay

Exploring Sound with Clay

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 30 - August 8 (10 classes | 11 weeks) ocarina by Kathi Tighe
Day/Time: Thursdays 10am - 1pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor:
Kathi Tighe

Course Description: Explore the musical possibilities of clay! Students will learn to make tuned, playable ocarinas (closed-vessel ceramic flutes), including multiple-chambered ocarinas. We will also play with other 'musical clay' objects, such as ceramic flutes,percussion instruments,rattles, etc. Work will be fired in Raku and Saggar. *No class on July 4th.

... Read more about Exploring Sound with Clay

Express Yourself - The Language of Slab Building

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 29 - July 31 (10 classes | 11 weeks)mug by joanna mark
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 10:00am – 1:00pm
Level: Beginner - Advanced
Instructor: Diane Lulek and Joanna Mark

Course Description: Find your creative voice with slab building. This class will demonstrate a combination of slab construction, surface decoration, and an exploration of form. Techniques will focus on both hard and soft slab construction to create mugs, planters, plates and trays, boxes, and anything your heart desires. Surface techniques will include the use of slips, carving, sgraffito, inlay, handmade stamps, and found

... Read more about Express Yourself - The Language of Slab Building

Expressive Sculpture

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: June 3 - August 5 (10 classes | 10 weeks) sculpture by Deighton Abrams
Day/Time: Mondays, 10am - 1pm
Level:
Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Deighton Abrams

Course Description: Clay’s responsiveness to touch makes it the ideal medium to sculpt what we can see with our eyes and new forms that reveal what we cannot. Through lectures and demonstrations, we will discuss various techniques for developing individual creative approaches that students will then use to make a small body of work. The instructor has experience teaching representational and abstraction techniques and can adapt styles to meet the needs of the students. When relevant, we will explore non-ceramic sculpture methods to add a finishing touch to our work.

... Read more about Expressive Sculpture

Focus on the Figure

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - July 30 (10 classes | 11 weeks)*Detail of figure sculpture by Mary Kenny
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 10am - 1pm
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Mary Kenny

Course Description: In this class, you will learn various ways to capture the likeness of the human figure, working from photographs and life. You will use slabs and clothing patterns, coils, pinch-pots, and templates, emphasizing hands, feet, and facial features.  

 

... Read more about Focus on the Figure

Garden Party

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024


Standing Bird Bath by Denny McLaughlinDates: May 31 - August 2 (10 classes/11 weeks)
Day/Time: Fridays, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Level: Advanced
Instructor:  Denny McLaughlin

Course Description: Students will look to the garden for inspiration, elevating the experience in their garden setting by creating unique forms and vessels.  They will choose a project or projects that may include unique serving vessels, lanterns, planters, or decorative forms that enhance the garden space. Students will use both hand-building and throwing techniques in the creating process. Students need previous

... Read more about Garden Party

Independent Studio

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - August 9 (11 weeks)People glazing in the glaze room.
Days/Time: N/A
Level: Advanced
Supervisors: Kathy King

Course Description:  Studio access for self-directed work. Independent Studio is open to those who have previously enrolled in classes for at least two Intermediate-Advanced classes at the Ceramics Program, have completed studio orientation or kiln certification orientation, and can process their work independently. Independent use of electric kilns is available to those who have passed the electric kiln test and been kiln certified, which is no longer a requirement for Independent Studio. Limited spaces available.  ... Read more about Independent Studio

Introduction to Wheel Throwing

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: June 1 - August 3 (10 classes | 11 weeks) Mug, unfired by Kyle Johns
Day/Time: Saturdays, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Level: Beginner - Intermediate
Instructor: Kyle Johns

Description: This course uses the potter’s wheel to make functional pottery and introduces ways the wheel can be used to create closed forms and parts to connect. Through demonstrations and hands-on learning each class will build off each other to gain skills and confidence in clay.

... Read more about Introduction to Wheel Throwing

Looking at Animals

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 30 - August 8 (10 classes | 11 weeks)*Rhino Sculpture by Mary Kenny
Day/Time: Thursdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level:
Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Mary Kenny

Course Description: Whether you want to make a sculpture of an animal, add animal features on a thrown pot, or draw, paint, or carve the image of an animal, this class is for you. The instructor will teach you how to look at animals and understand how to replicate either a realistic or stylized version. Lessons will include information on anatomy, proportion, and what features to focus on to capture the essence of the animal. Hand builders and wheel-throwers are welcome though students are encouraged to throw outside of class to ensure enough time for in-class instruction and activity. *Note: No class on Thursday, July 4th for Independence Day

... Read more about Looking at Animals

Molds and Multiples

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - July 30 (10 classes | 11 weeks) Slip cast work by Audrey An.
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 – 9:30pm
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Instructor: Audrey An

Course Description: Join 2022-24 Artist-in-Residence, Audrey An, in expanding your knowledge in basic plaster mold-making for press-molding and slip-casting. Mold-making is an efficient method to quickly replicate forms with exactitude, whether it be a set of mugs or an object that comes together to form a compelling sculpture or installation. Throughout the course, students will learn how to make 1, 2, multi-part

... Read more about Molds and Multiples

Surface Exploration

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - August 6 (10 classes | 11 weeks)*Work by Katie Bosley Sabin
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 10am - 1pm
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Katie Bosley Sabin

Course Description: Get ready for a deep dive into surface exploration. Discover new ways to liven up your hand-built or thrown ceramic vessels and consider design elements as you decorate a wide range of functional objects. Expand your technical skillset as you learn to apply slip in new ways, experiment with resist methods, and carve and pierce clay. * There will be no class on July 2nd due to instructor travel. 

... Read more about Surface Exploration

The General Store - Hand-built functional ware, sundries, and other oddities

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - August 6 (10 classes | 11 weeks)*Tom Hubbard wood fired and soda fired bottles
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Tom Hubbard

Course Description: Long ago, the local general store stocked many products and was the only place in town for manufactured articles and other necessities. This class will use the General Store's inventory as inspiration for hand-built ceramic work, from bottles, flasks, enamelware, and watering cans to tools and other items. Soft slab construction techniques and simple molds will explore these familiar forms. Texture and other surface treatments will also be covered, including stamping, stencils, and underglaze transfers. Classes will consist of short slide lectures, work sessions, demonstrations, and discussions of design/construction strategies and glazing considerations. Please bring a sketchbook or reference materials for projects. 

... Read more about The General Store - Hand-built functional ware, sundries, and other oddities

The Randomizer

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 30 - August 8 (10 classes | 11 weeks)*Gams show randomizer with clay terms.
Day/Time: Thursdays, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Level: Advanced
Instructor:  Forrest Sincoff Gard and Tom Hubbard

Course Description: Step right up, spin the wheel, and let the chance elements of The Randomizer influence your projects. Students in this class will take on three projects based on spins of “The Randomizer,” which will determine what you make and the clay, tools, and techniques used to make each project. Try a new clay body, stretch those unused throwing muscles, improve your hand-building skills, or pick up a new surface technique. This class encourages play and gets you out of your comfort zone. Additional randomizers may be used to determine glazing and firing methods. Some projects may also include a “wildcard tool” to keep everyone on their toes. *No class on July 4th, 2024, due to Independence Day ... Read more about The Randomizer

Wheel Intensive

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: June 3 - August 5 (10 classes | 10 weeks)teapot by Steve Murphy, dragon design
Day/Time: Mondays, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Steve Murphy

Course Description: Focusing on the wheel, this class for Intermediate to Advanced potters will explore size, form, refinement, trimming for perfect feet, and surface texture and color. Starting with bowls, we will work away from the cylinder as a starting point. Making a pleasing curve and trimming beautiful and complementary feet will be goals. Other lessons include vessels made from multiple parts – from teapots to perforated moon jar-style vases. Demos usually run between 25 and 30 minutes, leaving you plenty of time to make work. Students are encouraged to make requests.

... Read more about Wheel Intensive

Online Courses

Plant-Based Printing Processes - Online

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 28 - August 6 (11 classes)Plant Based Print Processes with Anne Eder
Day/Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm via Zoom
Level: Beginner - Advanced
Instructor: Anne Eder

Course Description: Get outdoors with this introduction to plant-based printing processes that use light and common plant materials obtained from the backyard, a nearby park, or even the grocery! This class introduces plant-based printing processes that use light and common plant materials! It will cover anthotypes, chlorophyll printing, and other plant-based printing methods. We will meet via an online platform once a week for demonstrations, and students will then take what they have learned and

... Read more about Plant-Based Printing Processes - Online

Experimental Photography on Clay - Online

Semester: 

Summer

Offered: 

2024

Dates: May 29 - August 7 (11 classes)Work by Experimental Photo Student
Day/Time: Wednesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm via Zoom
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Instructor: Anne Eder

Course Description: Are you someone who enjoys combining art and science? If so, this course may be for you. Photography on clay is still an area of discovery, and in previous sessions, we barely scratched the surface of understanding the physical and chemical web and the fascinating intersections of organic and inorganic crossover of these two mediums. This class will welcome beginners and returning students. While it is not essential to come to this with a photographic background, some knowledge of the medium or a willingness to learn about it will be helpful. The materials list can be built on an individual basis around your interests, or you can gather a basic kit - see the materials list for information. Be part of the exciting and synergistic dialogue between photographers and ceramic artists and contribute to making new discoveries in real time!

... Read more about Experimental Photography on Clay - Online

Upcoming Visiting Artist Workshops

Upcoming Lectures